PopCap Games
PopCap Games, or PopCap, is an American video game development and publishing subsidiary company based in Seattle, Washington. It was founded on July 18, 2000 by John Vechey, Brian Fiete, and Jason Kapalka, and currently employs more than 400 people. As of July 12, 2011, PopCap was acquired by Electronic ArtsEA buys PopCap Games and is now a subsidiary of one of the leading game development companies. PopCap specializes in "casual" games, and often allows people to play their games for free during a brief trial period before the game must be purchased. PopCap's first game, a gem-swapping game called ''Bejeweled'', has sold more than 50 million units and was awarded the Computer Gaming Hall of Fame in 2002. PopCap games are available for Web, PC, Mac, Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Zeebo, Cellphones, PDAs, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, Nintendo DS, and other mobile devices. Plants vs. Zombies, a game created by George Fan, was first released was on the PC in May 5, 2009. Over time, the game was released to other platforms. As previously mentioned, PopCap Games and their franchises were purchased by Electronic Arts (EA) for $650 million USD. After being bought by EA, PopCap created Plants vs. Zombies Adventures; Plants vs. Zombies 2; Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and its sequel Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2 and Plants vs. Zombies Heroes. On an unknown date, PopCap opened a studio in Shanghai, China. PopCap Shanghai develops games separately from PopCap Seattle that are only available exclusively in China. In October 2011, Talkweb Information System Co. Ltd, a Chinese public company, signed a cooperation agreement with EA to operate Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) and Bejeweled Blitz in the Chinese mainlandTalkWeb signed agreement with EA, now operating PvZ2C. However, it wasn't until PopCap Shanghai sold the game development completely to Talkweb that they are now the main developer of Plants vs. Zombies 2 (Chinese version) since the 2.0.1 update. PopCap now only acts as the publisher of the game, along with Electronic Arts. Talkweb then removed every other PopCap game (including Bejeweled) exclusive to China, as well as slowly shutting down every online one. Games ''Plants vs. Zombies'' series On May 5, 2009, PopCap released Plants vs. Zombies, a tower defense video game where the player defends their house with plants against an oncoming horde of zombies. The game received a positive response from critics, and was nominated for multiple Interactive Achievement Awards, alongside receiving praise for its musical score by Laura Shigihara. List of Plants vs. Zombies games *''Plants vs. Zombies'' *''Plants vs. Zombies: The Board Game'' (non-video game, cancelled) *''Plants vs. Zombies Pinball'' *''Plants vs. Zombies Adventures (shut down) *Plants vs. Zombies 2'' *''Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare'' *''Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2'' *''Plants vs. Zombies Heroes'' Games exclusive to China Unlike the ones that are available internationally which are made by PopCap Seattle, these games are made separately by PopCap Shanghai and are available exclusively to China. *''Plants vs. Zombies: Great Wall Edition'' (removed) *''Plants vs. Zombies: Journey to the West'' (removed) *''Plants vs. Zombies Social Edition'' (shut down) *''Plants vs. Zombies 2'' (Chinese version) *''Plants vs. Zombies: All Stars'' (removed on iOS) *''Plants vs. Zombies Online (shut down) *Plants vs. Zombies: Magic Book'' (removed) *''Plants vs. Zombies Pinyin Adventure'' (removed) *''Plants vs. Zombies 2: Social Edition'' (removed) Other games *''Bejeweled ''- Switch jewels around to make matches *''Bejeweled Twist ''- A spin-off to Bejeweled *''Bejeweled 3 ''- Another sequel to the Bejeweled series *''Feeding Frenzy ''- Eat other fish to become the top of the food chain *''Feeding Frenzy 2: Shipwreck Showdown ''- A sequel to Feeding Frenzy. *''Peggle ''- Shoot objects to clear pegs *''Peggle Nights ''- An addition to Peggle *''Peggle 2'' - A sequel to Peggle *''Peggle Blast'' - A mobile Peggle game. *''Bookworm ''- Connect letter tiles around to build words *''Bookworm Adventures -'' A turn-based, action-puzzle game where you create words based on given letters on the board to defeat enemies. *''Bookworm Adventures: Volume 2'' - A sequel to Bookworm Adventures *''Insaniquarium ''- Feed fish with fish food *''Zuma -'' Eliminate all balls rolling around a screen *''Zuma's Revenge! - A sequel to Zuma *Heavy Weapon ''- Shoot high-flying vehicles down with heavy artillery. See here for a complete list. Gallery PopCap.JPG|PopCap's 2006–2011 logo used in the loading screen on PC version of Plants vs. Zombies Popcap pvp2 start.jpeg|PopCap's 2011 logo in the iPad version of Plants vs. Zombies 2 PvZ Heroes PopCap Logo.jpg|PopCap and EA's logo seen on Plants vs. Zombies Heroes (old) Carta de popcap para ea.jpg|PopCap's note for Electronic Arts. Note it resembles the zombies' notes seen in-game. ConetoErrorisHuman.JPG|PopCap's site 404 page, which includes a Sunflower and Conehead Zombie pvzhsplash.png|PopCap and EA's logo seen on Plants vs. Zombies Heroes PopCap_2012_logo.svg.png|PopCap's logo in loading screen on the Console version of Plants vs. Zombies. News *On July 12, 2011, Electronic Аrts bought PopCap for $650,000,000. *On August 21, 2012, PopCap fired 50 employees in North America in a move to address a shift to mobile and free-to-play games and evaluated shutting down its Dublin studio. *On September 24, 2012, PopCap closed its studio in Dublin, Ireland. *On March 13, 2014, PopCap fired an unspecified number of employees for an unknown reason.PopCap closes in Dublin *On May 3, 2017, the size PopCap Seattle's team was reduced and are refocusing on key titles and new projects.https://twitter.com/popcap/status/859460033997754368 See also *Electronic Arts *Talkweb References External links *Official Website *PopCap Games page in Wikipedia Category:Electronic Arts Category:Companies